Numero Uno: In Sunday's Final in Zurich, that other Belgian you may have heard about, 2nd-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne, defeated # 25 Jelena Dokic of Serbia & Montenegro (Belgrade-born, Australia-trained) 6-0, 6-4. Justine is shown with her trophy, and a # 1 made out of tennis balls, signifying that when the rankings come out Monday she will be the # 1 women's singles player in the world (how WTA rankings work, .pdf).
Justine won the 1st set in just 15 minutes, while Jelena won only 4 points. Jelena then played better, and was broken only once in the 2nd set, but it was too late.

Justine said: "I served unbelievably, like never before in my life. I was so focused. It was incredible...
"[Becoming # 1] was a dream of mine as a child. I've been playing tennis since I was five...
"[Last week at the Filderstadt tourney] there was enormous pressure. It was hard the first couple of days here. I was pretty down after Filderstadt.
"After match point today I thought 'mission accomplished.' It has given me a lot of motivation and courage to continue. Getting to No. 1 is never easy. But I know staying at the top will be really hard...
"My next goal is my next match in Los Angeles. I'll take care of my body the next couple of weeks, play the Championship match by match, try to win the title, and then maybe think of finishing the year as No. 1." story

Jelena said: "I didn't play as well as yesterday [against Kim Clijsters]. [Justine] served better than me, she was more solid than me, but for me to come as far as I have, it's a great tournament. I surprised myself, not just by winning but the way I played...
"I'm not always the easiest person to put up with. I'm very difficult sometimes. It hasn't been an easy time... [My coach Borna Bikic] put me back together, my life, my head, my tennis. Ninety-nine percent of people would never have started with me, let alone continued when things got that bad." story

Justine has withdrawn from next week's Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria, due to fatigue. Justine won at Linz last year, so in another week she will lose some points from her ranking total. That other, other Belgian you may have heard about, Kim Clijsters, won the tourney in Luxembourg the same week last year, and she is playing there next week. If Kim can do well at Luxembourg again, she will likely retake the # 1 spot.

The WTA Championships in LA Nov 3rd will probably determine who will end the year at # 1: it will be easier for Justine, because Kim won the Championships in 2002, and earned bonus points by defeating Justine in the QFs, then # 2 Venus Williams in the SFs, and then # 1 Serena Williams in the Final. Even if Kim wins the tourney, she is unlikely to replace all those bonus points (points are lost after they are 52 weeks old), and Justine need only reach the SFs to increase her point total.

Kim Cijsters happens to be # 2 at doubles also at this time; the player stopping her from being # 1 at doubles is her partner, Ai Sugiyama, so that is unlikely to change. Kim and Ai won the Zurich doubles title by defeating the other current great team, Virgina Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez, 7-6(3), 6-2

21-year-old Justine has now won 14 WTA singles titles in 24 finals. Justine has had a great year, winning the French & US Opens, & 6 other tournaments. Justine uses a Wilson "H Tour" bat, and is attired by the Adi Dassler's "Mark with the 3 Stripes." Justine cannot hit the ball without biting her lower lip; offcourt she looks all friendly-like.

20-year-old Jelena has won 5 WTA singles titles in 12 finals. Jelena was ranked # 4 just over a year ago, before going into a slump most of this year, coming out of it this tourney with 4 straight wins, 3 of them upsets, the last over # 1 Kim Clijsters, which will put Jelena back in the top 20 on Monday. The stick that Jelena swings at the ball is a Head "i.X6 Midplus," and her wardrobe is by Fila. Jelena cannot hit the ball without looking vicious; offcourt she looks all friendly-like.

The main draw for Zurich had 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers, 1 lucky loser, and 3 wild cards in the main draw.
Sunday's Final in Zurich began at 1:30pm local time (that is 1130 the same day GMT, UCT, ZULU, 7:30am EDT, or 4:30am PDT).

Mary said: "What's not wrong with me? That's the way I feel... I guess I've been playing at a higher level and higher intensity recently and it's taking its toll. My body isn't used to that. My body needs to recover and get used to it again." story

Kim said: "I knew she would be tough because she really likes to play aggressive tennis. I had to stop her playing her game and I played really well. I broke twice in each set but the games were close, especially in the beginning, and we had some really great fun rallies out there. I felt like she did not give me many easy mistakes and I had to work for it and make sure I was playing well enough. But it is good to win matches like that." story

Jelena said: "...I played a very good set and a half, and I was happy with that... I am coming back, and I want it more, and you know even if I lose matches, I try to play better... it's not going to come back straight away. I have to work now for next year... in the off season I have to work very hard, I think mentally and physically... once I get my confidence back a little bit, which is not very high at the moment, I think I will be much better, and I think this match will help me a lot." interview

Kim said: "The beginning of the second set wasn't pretty. I had to refocus, work my way back into the match. She can be a tricky player." story

#2 s2 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL d #12 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-4, 6-2

Justine said: "It is one of the best matches I have played since the U.S. Open. [Vera] always played really well, she is very solid and she is young so she has nothing to lose. I had to play a good match and I did."

*#25 Jelena Dokic YUG d #18 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-0, 6-3

Jelena said: "I don't think I played like that even when I was four in the world. I think this is the best tennis I've played for a long time."

Jelena said: "Even if I lost I wanted to go off court knowing I had given it everything. I haven't had a great time but now I feel I have got my head together and got my tennis together." story

Kim said: "Right now, I'm mentally and physically very tired. I don't think I recovered very well after that late doubles match last night and this was one match too many. In the first set I played well but I had nothing left after that... And I have to give full credit to Jelena. She played a good match."

#2 s2 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL d #14 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-4, 6-4

Justine has withdrawn from next week's Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria due to wear, tear, & fatigue. Justine said: "For a few days I have felt pain in my knee cap, and I have some blisters on my foot as well. It is okay, I can play, but it is bothering me sometimes, and it is tough, but I just tried to do my job today."